Being Present I am a doer. It is in my DNA. I grew up in a family of doers. I grew up in a church of doers. I value hard work and productivity and honestly feel my best at the end of a full day where a lot was accomplished. There is absolutely nothing wrong with being a doer, but in this last season God has been reminding me that doing is not as important as being. Even pre-covid, H2H and the atmosphere of the Romanian orphanage has been changing. There is a huge movement to reduce the number of children in the institutions. That is a great concept, and one that we’ve worked toward and prayed for for years. But, it has changed the feel. The days of pulling up in the van and having 50 kids running and yelling “americani!” are over. The numbers of kids in one facility have been dramatically reduced. The kids are still glad to see us, but the mob mentality and hype are not still present. I miss it! I don’t like the change. I miss the numbers and the hype and the thrill of the kids running and shouting that I had arrived. Who doesn’t like the feel of people being thrilled that you’ve arrived? I also don’t particularly like change. I like to know what the schedule is and what the program will look like and which kids I will see on what days. Then covid hit and the changes kept coming. The accessibility to the kids was reduced or even removed for a season. I was called back to the US to support my Dad and family as he fought for his life. Back to Romania then back to the US for furlough and called to support my second family as Mark Gregory lost his life. Wave after wave of change and grief on different levels. I’ve been back in Romania, since January and God has been reminding me that He is God and I am not. He doesn’t need me to do anything. He occasionally chooses to use me in a situation but He wants me to be present with Him and let Him work. One of the reminders of that came on March 9th as Heather, Nicu and I sat outside of the hospital awaiting news of what was happening inside with Melissa (one of our staff) and baby Oliver. Just a few hours earlier Melissa’s water broke, 6 weeks early. As we sat and waited Nicu said. “Jen, you really have been there through my whole life. From when I was 9 and brought to the orphanage, to when I was in high school and you visited me there and made sure I was doing my homework, to the transition program, my baptism, my wedding, my joining H2H staff, and now sitting with me while my first child is being born.” The thing that Nicu was grateful for wasn’t anything that I did, but that I was present in milestones of his life. The greatest way we can show God’s love to others is by showing them that we are present through their lives, because God is ALWAYS present in our lives. It doesn’t matter if there are 100 kids or 1. It doesn’t matter if I like the situation or I don’t. It doesn’t matter if I accomplish a task or not. What matters is being available, being present, and letting God work. Oliver and Melissa are still in the hospital, but making steps everyday to be able to come home. H2H is still here. Some days we are allowed to go in to the orphanages, some days restrictions keep us out. Some days have the feel that I like, some days don’t. But in it all God is faithful. He is God and He allows me to be an example of Him in this world, one moment at a time. Here is some of the current news of what we are up to: -Out of the 5 facilities that we work in on a regular basis we’ve been allowed into 3 of them full time. One of them we have to take a rapid covid test before we can go in. Just today we had a meeting with one of the directors of one of the centers we haven’t been allowed into, and once a few more forms are signed by some of the higher up in the state system, we will be allowed back in. Seeing the kids when we went to drop of the forms was wonderful and food for my soul! -Like in many areas we go in and out of being in lockdown. For us lockdown means a curfew and we are not allowed to leave our house without paperwork filled out about where we are from and were we are going. There are occasional check points where you may be stopped and checked. -In some of the lighter restriction times we were able to have some H2H family moments. We celebrated Karla’s 6th birthday and Eric’s 3rd birthday (2 of our “grandkids”) with small parties. We had a baby shower for Melissa. We also had a going away luncheon for Wanetta and added Nicu and my birthday’s into the mix. -We are hopeful that we’ll be able to have a Easter celebration here at Pipera (Easter for us in on May 2). -We don’t know what we will be allowed to do for summer ministry, but we are hopeful that we will get to have the kids out of the orphanages on some level. -We have one girl in the transition program and are going to be adding one more hopefully in the next couple of weeks. -Financially things continue to be a struggle for us. While, my job is to mete out finances here in Romania, it has been stressful at times. God keeps reminding me He is God and I am not in this area as well! We have several items and special projects that we don’t know where the funding will come from. If you’d like to help, please contact Jodi or myself and we can give you more details! As always, thanks for being present in my life! I always know that I’m loved and supported and that is such a blessing! Love, Jen